Rusty Costanza/The Times-PicayuneNew Orleans Hornets guard Marcus Thornton says he appreciated the support he has gotten from the fans the past two seasons.

"I'm a local guy and from the area, but Sacramento will be a good opportunity for me," Thornton said. "It is what it is. I'll just have to make the best of the opportunity now. The one thing I will miss are the fans. The fans are great. They were behind me every game. My family would always be there, but mostly the fans are who I'm going to miss. That's really going to be the hard part."

Thornton said he never had any issues with Hornets Coach Monty Williams despite his struggles to gain, and maintain, a spot in the team's rotation this year behind guards Willie Green and Marco Belinelli.

"We never had a problem," Thornton said. "But it really wasn't a defensive thing, because if you look at all my game, I never let anybody just kill me. I don't know what it was. But now I'm going to Sacramento. Those were his guys he brought in and you've got to respect that."

Thornton said he is eyeing his return trip to New Orleans Arena with the Kings on March 12.